Together with my son I am off upto Skye on Sunday to walk the Trail. We are going from South to North and have a week to complete it. We plan to pitch our 2 man tent away from recognised sites and "rough it" for the week. Any members done it? If so any experiences worth sharing? Curly
Not done it myself but it would be worth remembering that Skye and the Cullins have some strange geology. Compasses don't always perform correctly due to iron deposits/ magnetic pull so it would be prudent to bear this in mind. Double check and support any navigation decisions with other means. Let us know how you get on?
I've done the West Highland Way and The Great Glen Way but they are easy compared to the Skye Trail..which after reading about it seems much harder terrain plus there are no waypoints.... that would be me lost Good luck with it and remember to post plenty pictures
Thanks all, we're as ready as we can be, I'm the weakest link without doubt, but we are in no hurry so fingers crossed all will go ok. I'll be taking a few photos and will try to get them on here if and when we return!!! Curly
Ah ........ but at least you got to look at what you wanted to look at, rather than what you needed to look at!
FAILURE Sorry to have to report that we were forced, with much reluctance to abandon our walk on Monday night at Sligachan. It turned out that the weakest link was not me after all, but the tent. Wind was extremely strong with sudden, huge gusts, when getting into the tent with one end door open an immense gust of wind simply ripped one side of the fly sheet into tatters. We found ourselves with no shelter, no alternative accommodation, heavy rain forecast and no bus service. Fortunately for us, a complete stranger saw our predicament and insisted on driving us back to Broadford in his car. He refused to accept any payment whatsoever. Having saved our bacon he drove off back to Sligachan. What a bloke! We were totally demoralised and unwilling to pay huge hotel costs, started to drive home. A night in the car off the road in Glen Coe was the most uncomfortable night I've had in years. Arrived home Tuesday dinner time, thoroughly pissed off. We have some super photos, some of which I which I will post in a while. This is unfinished business and an astonishingly beautiful trail which we will return to and finish later this year Curly
Sorry to hear that,it's no fun sleeping/trying to sleep in a car bunkhouse would have been the answer for about £20 a night. April can be a crapy month for weather especially on Skye,next time try mid May and hopefully you will complete the walk,i'm sure it would be fantasic if you had decent weather
I'm sorry to hear about your trip, but happy that a complete stranger stepped up to help out. This will give you something to think about the next time you see someone in need of assistance, and you will! Better luck in the future. Your chance to pay it forward!
I smile at your capital letters failure..... Not at all, that is what adventure and learning is all about. Great opportunity that you can build on next time. Sleeping in a car is always rough, personally I prefer to sleep on the floor outside it with whatever lash up is possible.